Corset.



PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905.

0,. A. TRENHOLM.

CORSET. APPLICATION FILED snmao, 190a.

UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE.

CORSET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1905.

Application filed September 30,1903. Serial No. 175,138.-

To It whont it ntay concern.-

Be it known that I, CATHERINE ADELINE TRENI-IOLM, a citlzen of the United States, re-

siding at Belmont, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Corsets, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like figures on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to corsets or waists, and has for its object to provide a corset of novel construction which shall properly support the breasts and give the body of the wearer the correct form and which shall at the same time be perfectly comfortable to wear.

The corset has been expressly designed to meet the requirements of stout or fleshy women; but it is equally well adapted for general use.

My improved corset is made with a plural ity of vertical slits opposite each breast, said slits extending from the waist-line or slightly above the same nearly to but terminating below the top of the corset and extending both above and below the line of the bust, and into each slit on the inside of the corset is sewed or otherwise secured expansion pieces or gussets of peculiar shape. These gussets are each made from a square blank the sides of which are equal in length to the length of the slit. In securing each gusset in place it is folded diagonally and two of its sides sewed to the sides of the slit, one end of the diagonal fold coming at the bottom of the slit. The other or upper sides are then sewed together, whereby a triangular expansion-piece is provided. The slits or openings into which the expansion pieces or gussets are set give sufiicient vent to the breasts and flesh around the same and under the arm, so that the strain on the corset is properly distributed and the corset-steels much less liable to break.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front view of my improved corset. Fig. 2 shows the inside of the two sides of the corset. Fig. 3 is a view on the section-line 00 .12, Fig, 2; and Fig. 4 shows the shape of the blanks from which the expansion pieces or gussets are made.

The corset 3, of any suitable material, has opposite each breast one or more vertical slits at, which extend from the waist-line or slightly above the same nearly to but terminate below the top of the corset. I have found from experience that the best results are secured by making two slits on each side of the corset, as shown in Fig. 1. Secured in each of these slits or openings on the inside of the corset is an expansion piece or gusset 5, which preferably will be made from a square blank 6, said blank being folded diagonally on the line 7 and secured in place, with one end of the diagonal fold at the bottom of the slit, by sewing the sides 8 of the gusset-piece to the sides of the slit. The top edges 9 of said gusset-piece are sewed together. These slits or openings 4, extending both above and below the bust-line, as they do, give to the corset an expansible front which adapts itself to different sizes. The two slits employed on each side of the expansion or gusset pieces 5 give sufficient vent, so that the flesh around the breast and under the arm is not crowded over the top of the corset.

After the corset is in place the tips 10 of the gusset-pieces are pulled up, as seen in Fig. l, to take up any fullness and to contract the corset to the proper size. By thus taking up more or less of the fullness of said gussets the corset may be made to fit either tightly or loosely, as desired. The gussets may be held in their adjusted position simply by binding action of the upper edge of the corset, or the tips ofsaid gussets may be provided with fastening devices, such as buttons or hooks and eyes, and the tips of the outside gussets fastened to the inside ones and the latter fastened together.

Any number of steels or bones desired may be employed. I have herein illustrated one steel 14 011 each side of each slit, and to add strength to the corset have crossed the steels on each side of any slit just below the slit, as shown at 15.

IVhile I have herein illustrated my invention as applied to a corset, I wish it understood that it may also be applied to waists.

Various changes in the manner of applying the invention to a garment may be made without sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention or departing from it.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A corset or waist having at each side a plurality of vertical slits located above the waist-line but terminating below the top of the corset or waist, and a triangular in shape bag-like gusset-piece at each slit on the inside of the corset, each gusset-piece having its edges sewed to the edges of the corresponding slit.

2. A corset or waist having at each side a plurality of vertical slits located above the waist-line and terminating below the top of the corset, and a gusset-piece on the inside of the corset at each slit, each gusset-piece comprising two similar members each having one edge sewed to one edge of the slit, said members of said gusset-piece being secured together at their other edges.

3. A corset or waist having at each side a plurality of vertical slits above the waist-line and terminating below the top of the corset, and gusset-pieces secured in said slits on the inside of the corset, said gusset-pieces each being made from a square blank folded diagonally and having the end of the fold at the bottom of the slit.

CATHERINE A. TRENHOLM.

Witnesses:

LoUIs (l SMITH, JOHN C. EnUARDs. 

